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Chapter Twelve
Back - Next ((Small note: I got real lazy at the end with the fighting, sorry.)) The Cask is subdued. Some of the commoners here have been here long enough to realize that their position is not good. The jovial atmosphere of a vacation from drudgery has sunk into a worry of how their fields will be kept, how their children and animals will be fed, and whether their lives will ever return to normal. Some have taken to heavy drinking or general malaise, napping in the Cask’s common room because they don’t care enough to climb the stairs to find a bed. Seirixori, having slept in the Citrus Grove and regretting sleeping in the woods for once, heads to the Cask. Her growling stomach leading her to the smell of food, but the ache of her body from being so close to death, leaves her stomach conflicted. When she steps inside she sets herself at the bar and rests her head on her arms. "Ugh everything hurts." "Place is startin' t' remind of me of a thieves den. Buncha drunks all over the place..." Urrak says quietly, stepping over a man. Lured by the smell of roasting meat, Urrak arrives in the common area, clad only in light traveling clothes. A dagger and coin purse on her belt. "Smells amazin, Gunnloda". The sound of a small groan causes Urrak to turn towards the bar. She sees Serixiori's tired form, but is entirely unsure how to approach the Tiefling. Gunnloda smiles and wipes her hands on her tabard more out of habit than anything else. "Thank you. This one's actually orc/halfling fusion." She loads up a platter with the spiced meat, some bread, cheese, and fruit and sets it on the bar for Urrak and Seirixori. She tilts her head to try to get Seirixori's attention as she also pours a mug of water. "You need anything else, dear?" Urrak turns back to Gunnloda "An interestin' fusion for sure. But gods know it's been too long since I've tasted spices like these. Thank y' kindly." Urrak sets herself next to Serixiori, cautiously. Seirixori shifts her head to look at Urrak and Gunnloda, "Hello," she mumbles, taking a small piece of meat and taking the smallest of bites, not sure her stomach can handle it. “No, thank you,” her response to Gunnloda is barely a whisper. "How y' feeling, friend? Seems our last encounter took quite a bit outta ya...and for good reason. First time coming close t' meetin' yer maker I take it?" "Sort of." She gets a little queasy and takes some bread instead. "Sorry for... making a mess of things with... well, wherever we were." "Comes with the territory, mate. The whole adventure was a right mess. At least ye came out the other side." Urrak takes a large bite of bread and cheese before she continues "As long add ye learned something from it, y' never really make mistakes. " Gunnloda nods, "I'll drink to that." Urrak timidly (for a very large person) places a hand on Serixiori's shoulder "We got yer back y'know. We're all in this clusterfuck together." Seirixori sniffs a little, "Thanks...." She fiddles with her cup, "I should probably not make a decision like that by myself... I just..." she sighs and shrugs, "too many dead I guess." "If you need to talk about it, I'm always willing to listen." Gunnloda offers to her. "Truly an impressive moment," Urrak chuckles "Must've been that wolf blood inside ye". She takes a bite of a fig "But what Gunnloda said about listenin', I'd say the same goes for me as well." Martyn pushes through the front door into the main room. He looks tired. "Hello all." Gunnloda looks up, "Hello, dear. Food? Drink?" "Drink, yes, please, a bottomless cup if possible.” Martyn takes a seat near them. “You lot look like the butcher had his way with you. Mind if I ask what happened?" Gunnloda sets a full tankard of ale in front of both Martyn and Urrak and pulls a plate from the back for Martyn. Seirixori groans, nerves hitting her suddenly and she almost knocks over her cup, "Kinda almost died. Made a stupid decision in the ...heat of the moment, I guess you could call it." Martyn takes a long drink, "Happens to the best of us. You gonna be alright?" "She nearly ate a dwarf's face." Urrak adds. Gunnloda raises an eyebrow. "A what now?" Seirixori snorts, "That was kinda cool," she sighs, "Not the worst that's happened, I'm sure I'll get over it." "There was a mad dragonborn and 'is two sellswords. One was a dwarf and the other an elf. They killed hundreds of lizardfolk in the name of some god. Right cunts they were..." Urrak takes a gulp of ale, still irritated at the thought of the troop. "Seirixori did what I think deep down we wanted t' do. Fer better or for worse." "I do hope your axe is significantly dulled because you were impolite in killing them." Martyn says. Gunnloda frowns. "That sounds terrible." “It was a grisly sight t' be sure..But what a battle...Damn near sliced a halfling in twain." "I'm almost sorry I missed it," Martyn takes another swing of his drink. "I'd rather not take another spear t' the midsection any time soon. " Urrak lifts her shirt to reveal a healing wound. "Though I suppose I've 'ad worse.. " "Bloody hell that's awful!" "Oh! Do you need healing, dear?" "Ah, no I'll be fine. Nothing time and rest can't handle. I appreciate the offer though" "Kind of wish I missed it." Seirixori sighs, "I'm not entirely sure that was the right choice. My ..." she pauses, hesitant, mostly because she's never told anyone before, "My ... family, I guess you could call them, were killed by a bunch of bandits. I just saw all those lizardfolk dead and well... I didn't pay attention to the people who were dead until it was too late." Gunnloda reaches over the bar and puts her hand on Seirixori's. "It's a hard place to be in." "Sorry t'hear that, mate. Bandits made good work of me pa too. Right bastards they are. But y'can't beat yourself up. It's perfectly reasonable what ye did back there. When yer faced with twisted folk like that dragonborn." "Bandits' loyalties and intentions aren't measured in anything but the weight of gold they can steal. What you did, given all accounts, was righteous. It's proper to stand up for folk who've been hurt." Martyn tells her. Seirixori blushes faintly at Gunnloda and clears her throat, "It's...frustrating, I haven't found too much on them and I don't know if... well, I guess I'm still angry about it." "You said they were all killed... what do you mean 'found'? Are you looking for them?" Gunnloda asks. Seirixori reaches for a piece of bread and starts picking it apart, "they killed everyone, except my mother and her friend, a blue dragonborn. She gave me the bow I have before making me hide in the woods... they were looking for her." She shrugs, "they just... they had her but killed everyone anyway." Seirixori wipes at her nose. "Despicable... have ye any leads? Anythin at all?" “Not really, I remember going back and taking the flag," she spits out, angry again, " they left but I don't know what happened to it after I got taken in by the druids." She shrugs, "I meant to ask the leader but then all this started happening and she'd gone on a mission of sorts and she kind of refuses to bring it up with me." Curious, Gunnloda asks, "Was your mom a druid too?" Seirixori laughs, "No, goddess no. She was...is a well-known rogue back where I live. She wanted to train me to be one or a ranger but I think I was too clumsy for that." She looks at the shredded bread, "still kinda am." She pouts. "Maybe the gods just had better plans for you." Gunnloda offers. "One certainly seems to," she mutters into some meat that doesn't bother her as much as it did on her first taste. "Don't fret too much about that. Yer clumsiness is endearing in a way," Urrak chuckles a bit but soon turns slightly somber "if only there was some kinda magic y' could use t' find her... like how Poni can find bits of his contraption.” "I did ask him. He said something about how long it had been," she chews her lip and then shrugs, "so I didn't bother." "It's worth a shot though, isn't it? If... you want to find her, anyway." "Aye. Any means necessary. " Seirixori just shrugs, not really sure she wants to tell them she's scared of the answers. "Not sure I want to be indebted to Poni." "That phantom in a stick is already indebted to us. Ain't like the man's got legs to walk on and arms t' swing a sword with these days. " Urrak drains her flagon. "We're stickin our necks out" "Mm, maybe...maybe another time though, not really feeling up to it today." Gunnloda nods, "It's your life, dear. Do with it what you think is right." "Aye. And who could blame ye. Not every day y'come back from the dead. " Martyn, sits up, having kept quiet, just listening to the conversation, "Wait, wait, you died?" “Not exactly? Would have, but our lizardfolk friend was a fellow druid, might have not made it without him, really." Seirixori grimaces. "Sometimes magic ain't so bad." Urrak comments. Gunnloda frowns again. "Wish I'd been there with you all." Seirixori shrugs, "Yeah, I should hang back more if you are not with us. I realized too late that I was the only one of us that could do a little bit of healing." "Leave the heavy liftin' t' me an Brimea. Can't have ye wastin' ur talents lyin' on the floor." Urrak smiles softly. "I'm only person, and that means I can't defend ye all the time but... I'll do my best next time we find ourselves in a pinch. You just gotta be a bit more careful. Even Tieflings can get knocked about." "Do you know how many more components there are? How many more of these trips need to be made?" Gunnloda asks. "I couldn't tell ya..." Urraks looks off to the side a bit, sighing. "Not sure we've asked, or if we have, that Poni would even tell us." "A machine like that, could be hundreds o' parts." "I hope not. People are starting to wear down." Gunnloda motions just slightly with her head. Every now and then, they start to notice someone missing from where they were sitting or someone walking into the Cask. Fewer of them seem confused... most seem more resigned like they've done this before. "I can see that. How long've folks been sleepin' all about? Can't recall ever havin t' step over people before..." "It was here and there at first, but it seems like it's spread. Feels more like a war camp than a tavern tonight. 's why I made a special meal, hoping to perk 'em up, but... it hasn't worked." "It's strange how some of us have been here far longer than anyone. Less popping in and out than the others." Seirixori muses. "Fickle magic. Works as it pleases..." A woman in a dark cloak steps up to the bar and addresses Gunnloda who is still on the other side of the bar. She's half-elf by her features, with dark skin and dark curly hair. "D'you work here?" "No, dear. We're all travelers. Can I help you with something? Food? Drink?" "No, I was looking for Baroness Moonstream. Have any of you seen her?" "Now why's that name soundin' familiar?" Urrak ponders to herself, "Moonstream..." Seirixori tilts her head, trying to remember what they found the other day, “That building a couple of us walked into... and someone... I think someone mentioned her too? She runs the town? Or something?" The woman's eyebrow quirks up. "I'd hope Moonstream sounds familiar. They only run the whole country. Are you not from around here?" "Aye that crabby dwarf what tried t' seduce Ravaphine," Urrak laughs. "And aye, like most, we aren't from these parts Ms...sorry never caught yer name...?" "Nope." She tilts her head and looks at everyone like she's trying to put together a puzzle. "Safika. How does one end up in the middle of Vyon with no knowledge of the Moonstreams?" "Vyon?" Safika blinks and nods slowly. She points at the ground. "Vyon." "Ah, Vyon. Can't say I ever knew the name o' this country. Jus Bellbury." "Hey, we know where we are now." Safika looks very confused. "Right. Context. Ah we were teleported here from places far far away by a mad dwarf named Poni. Now tend t' pop in n out at random. But if we get all the pieces of his now obliterated machine, Poni, or what's left of him, can help us get back home." Realizing her error, Urrak continue, “Ah wait, not dwarf, gnome. Small man. Gunnloda laughs. "Smaller'n a dwarf, yes." "Tiny, tiny man." "Suppose all us small folk look alike to you giants though." Urrak blushes and rubs her neck, "I mean no harm innit." "It's strange men folk indeed that fit in a pocket, though," Martyn says. Gunnloda laughs. "No offense taken. I was just wondering if all you had to go from was the tops of our heads." Seirixori snickers and Martyn, who is not in Safika’s line of vision, poofs out. "Right... so you don't know where Baroness Moonstream is?" Safika asks. "Can't say I do, miss, awful sorry. Serixiori, any clue about this mysterious woman?" "Probably just as lost as we are, on some other place in this world." Safika shakes her head, "Wherever she is, I doubt she's lost." "The gnome's magic affected the whole town. Who's t' say? Might I ask why the urgency?" "I was bringing a message from the Queen... but it seems her house is deserted." "Y'hear that, Ser? There's a queen as well!" "Oooh fancy place." "Are you all just teasing me now? Of course there's a Queen. There's a queen in every country on this continent." Gunnloda smiles softly. "Forgive them, dear. It's just we didn't know where we were until just now when you said." Seirixori shrugs, "I pretty much deal with people in forests. Or rather... they ignore me, so." "She lives in the woods and I'm from an orc stronghold, minimal interaction with queens I'm afraid." Safika frowns. "I don't like being made a fool. Where are you from then?" "D'Akshi Stronghold, miss." "Sorry," Seirixori mutters around her tankard of water, "Limabey." "I'm originally from Dhog Lodir... you've probably heard of that one. I didn't realize we were in Vyon or I'd have said something before," Gunnloda adds to the group. Safika nods at Gunnloda. "Not surprising. I've not heard of those others. They're not Vyon? Ascus? Dhog Lodir? Shetai?" Urrak shrugs, "When ye travel as much as I have, names start t' blur together. Though Shetai sounds real familiar. I reckon that's who we paid our taxes to." “Ardabeh." Seir says, offhandedly. Both Gunnloda and Safika turn to Seirixori in surprise. "Ardabeh? What in the world are you doing here?" Safika asks. "Uhhh...dying?" Seirixori snorts a little, "goddess that was stupid. Um... I didn't really have a choice?" "You really are clueless, aren't you? Is anyone in this town from Vyon? Where are all the people who lived here?" "It's not like I was given a map when shoved to live with a bunch of druids." Seirixori grumbles. "Maybe they're in our place or whatever." "Strewn about, every which way. Poni's magic was right powerful. Say, sorry if this seems odd but, did ye happen to come from the riverlands of Shetai? I remember folks like yourself. Deep skinned and curly haired." Urrak blushes slightly, thinking of fond memories. Safika hesitates for a moment, but says, "I was born in Vyon, but my mother was from Shetai." "Shetai is a land of strong genes" she laughs lightly, "Sorry if my assumption offended. I suppose i was struck by a wave of... nostalgia." Urrak wipes a bit sweat from her brow. "I apologize that we're of little use to your quest, but if there's anything we can do t' help, we'd like t' be of assistance... Since it's for the queen and all." Seirixori mouths 'The Queen' to herself and giggles. Safika shakes her head. "No offense taken. I hear it's a beautiful place. Anyway, no... I was just hoping someone knew when she'd return." "You know..." Seirixori thinks about a couple of the other townspeople, "Some of the people that actually live here, we've seen them. They're the ones we find sometimes when finding those stupid components." "You lost me again." "Oh, uh, the reason people keep disappearing. A gnome blew up some teleporter thing and this town is pretty deserted, and to piece it back together some of us go and find the pieces for it. I think someone named Lin and uh some guy? They were both where we were looking for these pieces. So maybe your baroness is somewhere with one too." "Strange." "Aye, might've gotten swept up." "And you're going looking for them?" "Oh! And we can technically find her, right? With Poni... if we had something she owned?” She pauses to answer Safika, “We're not really looking for the people, they just kind of happen to be there." "I mean... she lives next door. Her, her wife, and their daughter. I'm sure you can find something she owned in there. I'm sure you've already thought about finding her first." “Since time is of the essence, if we can track 'er, it'll make things much easier." "Like I said... she lives in the big house next door. If you have a way to track her, that's how you'll do it." "Right. You up for it, Ser?" "Oh, r-right now? I— I guess we could do that." "I'll need to gear up and all, but aye. Let's find this Moonstream." “O-okay, sure." Seirixori looks down at herself, "guess I'll clean this some other time." "I guess none of you are the prestidigitation type casters." Safika says. "The what?" "Prestidigitation? It's how wizards are always so clean." “Oh...yes that would be helpful. I got stuck with more nature-y things, I guess." Safika looks at Seirixori’s clothes like she's noticing them for the first time. "You uh... feeling ok?" Seirixori rolls her eyes, there's no forgetting the mess she caused until she can get them clean. "Everything kind of hurts, but yes, I'm fine. No more bleeding." "She nearly met her end not too long ago. Long story. " "My condolences?" "Well if you all are getting yourselves in another mess, I'm coming along to make sure you come back." Gunnloda says. "Thank you!" Seirixori nearly shouts. "Wouldn't have it any other way, Gunnloda," Urrak says with a smile. "So, let's go get something of this Baroness'." Seirixori starts heading towards the Moonstream house. "I'm not above a lil' rummagin'," Urrak says as she follows behind. As the enter Urrak takes the stairs and heads up to the second story, as they hadn’t seen any type of bedroom downstairs before. Gunnloda follows and Safika points out the master bedroom. "Whatever you need, you'll probably find in there." Urrak nods and heads in. Seirixori slowly makes her way up the stairs, still sore from the previous mess. "How bad would it be if I maybe borrowed something clean..." she grumbles to herself waiting outside the bedroom. Most of this mansion has a distinct quality to it that marks it as better than what anyone would think they’d find in a town like Bellbury, but this room exceeds the rest. It's nothing gaudy or pretentious, just the comfort of fine living. Soft sheets, a comfortable, well-made bed, and a closet full of bespoke clothing. Urrak heads to the closet and grabs the sleeve of a gossamer gown "What linens! This Moonstream must be made of gold… What kinda possessions are we lookin' for 'ere? Anythin' that'll give us a better chance at locatin' her?" Seirixori pokes her head in, the comfort of the home not something she's used to seeing, if ever, "Huh, interesting. Hey uh, what are the chances her whole family got put in the same place? Because I just thought about that..." "Anythin' seems t' possible these days," Urrak says, mostly to herself as she further rummages in the closet. Considering what Poni'd said about a 'personal item,' Urrak figures that clothes might be a good choice when she notices that two women must share the closet, and she doesn't know which wears which clothes. However, she does find a box tucked into a drawer with a ring inside, a ring bearing the Moonstream crest. "Ah-ha! Serixiori!" Urrak clambers out of the closet with the small box, "This 'ere, can't see why this wouldn't be personal enough." "Great! I did not want to accidentally break something, so thanks for looking," she laughs. "So, we want to do this now?" Urrak quickly regains composure over her outburst of joy and clears her throat "Aye. For our companion here I'm sure the sooner the better" "Can I help find anything?" Ravaphine asks, wide-eyed and confused, having just walked in. Seirixori jumps at the intrusion, "Oh, hey Ravaphine!" "Ah, Ravaphine! Been some time friend. Did y'jist pop in?" "Couldn't escape that town square for long, didn't know when I would get transported back to this place. But here I am! Glad to see you both still in one piece." Gunnloda eyes Seirixori. "If you think you don't need the rest..." Seirixori looks down again, "Oh...right yes. That would probably be for the best." "I'm sure we can find you some clean clothes. There's a whole town out there." "Aye. It's probably best not t' look like the town butcher on feast day..." Ravaphine looks at Seirixori, "What did you encounter last?" "Bad decisions," Seirixori shrugs and starts heading out, Gunnloda following her. Urrak trails behind a bit to talk to Ravaphine, Safika trailing behind them, and tells her in a low voice "Seri nearly died chargin inta a group of genocidal folks. A dragonborn and two, no three?, sell swords. " "My god..." Ravaphine whispers back. "So yeah, bit of touchy subject. But I'm hopin’ she'll pull through right quick after I give 'er this." Urrak pulls a sleeve of a blue and gold cloak a bit out of her pack to show Ravaphine "It's beautiful eh? Plus, I heard tell from another trader that it's imbued with protection magic." "I'm sure that'll cheer her up. Did you find that in your travels with Poni? Where is that stick, anyway?" "Aye, at that mad wizard's tower. And Poni? Ah, he's in the basement I believe. Probably on the floor....anyway," Urrak quickens her pace to catch up to Serixiori. Seirixori had started to walk away from the Cask, towards where there seemed to be more houses, but she stops, "I have no idea where I'm going or where to find possibly new clothes here..." "This is a big enough town, I'd be shocked not to find a dressmaker." Urrak says. "What about the general store? Didn't we rescue the woman who works there?" Gunnloda offers. After catching up with Seirixori, Ravaphine asks, "In the meantime, may I offer you a set of clothes? I have extra until we find you something else" "Uh, would they fit?" "Here, we're about the same height," Ravaphine hands Seirixori the bag of common clothes. "Oh, uh thanks." Seirixori shrugs and tears off her blood soaked leather, the thin underclothes she has underneath also sharing some of the dried blood, but she ignores it and puts on what was given to her. "An t'complete the ensemble," Urrak throws down her pack and removes the cloak of Protection. She hands the embroidered blue and gold garment to Serixiori "This should help ye in further sticky situations. Don't worry, it was hangin' up. I definitely didn't take it from a corpse. This time." She stares at Urrak and slowly reaches out for the garment. "Ar-are you sure? This looks...really nice." Ravaphine nods, "It suits you perfectly." "Aye, and it'll serve ye better than me." "Thanks," Seirixori says, slightly embarrassed and unsure what else to do. As she puts it on, she pouts when she realizes can't hide her face under the hood because of her horns, "Ok so let's find this general store and then get some rest so we can find this Baroness Moonstream." Gunnloda grins. "It's ok to have friends, you know.... but I was suggesting the store to find you clothes, and now that's taken care of." "Totally knew that," Seirixori coughs. "A rest sounds great. Hopefully a good night's sleep will take these pains from me guts" Urrak pats her side lightly, "Bloody Dragonborn..." Ravaphine gestures towards Safika and reaches a hand towards her, "I don't think we have met before. My name is Ravaphine and it looks like I've missed a few of your adventures. Have you been with them long?" She takes Ravaphine’s hand. "No... I just got here. Are you one of these... travelers?" "I suppose you can say that, but I think we all are considered travelers at this point!" Ravaphine says, "May I ask, what do you do when not being transported to this town? I, myself, help run a bookshoppe back home with my mum." "I'm from here. Vyon, not Bellbury. I was just... delivering a message to Baroness Moonstream." "I see, almost a local. So you all are attempting to find Baroness Moonstream now then? After a rest of course." "Aye that's the plan. Apparently Poni has a way of trackin' someone through use of a personal possession." Urrak holds up the ring box, "And we seem t' have found one" "I'm going to go clean these," Seirixori holds out her very gross leathers as far away from her borrowed and new clothing as she can. "Thanks again," she says quickly before scampering off to clean them and hide herself away in the Citrus Grove to dry them. Ravaphine watches her go, "Always on a mission, that one.” She turns to the rest, “Did you know Baroness Moonstream personally?" she asks Safika. "Not exactly." “What message were you delivering? If you don't mind me asking. I know she deals with many businesses around the area." "Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not for you to know." "It's a message from the Queen o' this place" Urrak smiles and mumbles "...So fancy." Safika holds herself back from rolling her eyes. "I see. We can deliver the message to her if you would like. Urrak here is a professional and we have the means of getting it to her safely." Ravaphine points to Urrak next to her with her elbow. "No, thanks." "That's fair. Well, shall we go find Lady Moonstream to get you on your way?" Ravaphine asks, just as they get back to the Cask. Urrak steps inside, "As soon as we get a couple in us we'll be ready t' go." She winks and heads towards the bar. "Care for a drink? It's on the house" Ravaphine motions for Safika to follow. "... Sure." "Are you sure we wouldn't rather tackle it in the morning after a full night's rest?" She's still looking at where Seirixori had gone, worried. Ravaphine nods and heads behind the bar and pours drinks for the group, "Everyone should rest up and we can take this on tomorrow." "A nightcap never hurt nobody, eh?" Urrak quickly drains the flagon. "And a good even t' you all." she heads upstairs. They can all hear a soft THUNK that signals her flop onto a bed. Seirixori walks in not much later wearing a totally different set of clothes than Ravaphine gave her, "I might have forgotten I had another set of clothes." she says, handing Ravaphine's clothes back, slightly damp from her washing them, even if she'd only worn them for a very small amount of time. "All is well, glad to see you back. You should follow suit and get yourself a good night's rest." Seirixori nods and goes to step back out of the Cask, before turning around and heading to one of the beds upstairs. The previous short rest she had certainly not leaving her wanting to not sleep on the ground again. "Gunnloda, Safika. See you both tomorrow," Ravaphine says as she exits the cask. ~*~*~ Ravaphine pockets a few fruits from the citrus grove before heading back to the group at the cask. Urrak, refreshed and geared up heads downstairs after a good rest. She sits at the bar and begins to eat an apple, waiting for the rest of the troupe. She turns and sees Gunnloda, "Ah, mornin' t' ye." Seir heads down and picks at some food while waiting. "Morning, dears. You're looking much better, Seirixori." "Thank you, I'm not entirely sure I feel 100% but it's something." Ravaphine looks amongst the familiar faces, "We're missing one. Anybody see where she went off to last night?" "Safika? Can't say I did." Urrak looks around, "Did she stay here?" Gunnloda frowns. "I'm not sure." "Maybe being here made her go poof too." Seirixori offers. "Well, we have what we need to find Lady M, shall we continue on the quest to find her?" "Yeah," Seirixori is hesitant but the nights rest did some good and she stands, the others following her. Gunnloda trails after them, not wanting them to get in trouble without her again. Brimeia pops into the town square just as the walk by, "Well there's a face I haven't seen in ages! Brimeia! How are you my good friend." Ravaphine greets her. "Ah, Ravaphine, yes it's been a while hasn't it? Pretty good actually, and yourself?" As she follows along with the others, getting minimum information about what they’re about to do Once they get to Poni’s basement, his voice rings out from somewhere under a cabinet. "It's about time. If I had to watch that web grow one more inch... it's like watching you lot try to problem-solve.” "I almost missed ye Poni...almost." URrak says. "Ready to save the world, then?" "We've got a bit of a detour t' take first," Urrak says, taking out the ring box from her pack. "If this is your way of proposing to us, I would have pictured it under different circumstances. Like in the middle of a battle," Ravaphine jokes. “As if any o' ye is fit to be my wife. Look at ye, so small." "Yes, yes, hilarious. What's that for?" Poni asks. "And we're using this ring in order t'find Baroness Moonstream." Having not been privy to the conversations beforehand, Brimeia looks confused, "Who?" “We're WHAT? Why would you want to find that stuck-up, idiotic, useless lump of a woman?" Poni nearly screeches. "I like her already," Brimeia chuckles. Ravaphine nods, "She's a hot commodity these days." "She's got a message 'ere from the Queen." Urrak supplies. "Who? What queen?" Brimeia asks. "Who cares? We're trying to fix the envirochronic resonance architecture!" Seirixori, having enough of Poni’s bullshit says, "Yep, guess what, that means we're going to find her." "Or do you just enjoy being ripped from your lives whenever the gods fancy?" "From my knowledge, there was another person last night looking for this Baroness Moonshine. Poni's abilities will help us find individuals with a personal artifact. So that's why they have her ring." Ravaphine tells Brimeia. "Baroness Moonstream," Urrak corrects. Still annoyed, Seirixori growls, "Poni, just show us where to find her before I bury you in the ocean." "N..no we unfortunately need him. Please don't yeet him into the ocean." Ravaphine begs and Poni grumbles. "Well folks, shall we head to our Baroness Moonstream and see what she has to say?" "Let's get this done," Urrak says, placing a hand on Ravaphine's shoulder. "At least let's see if she's dead first." Poni says. “Baroness Moonshine seemed very concerned about you, Poni." Ravaphine says, recalling the letter she found the other day. "Put the ring up to my sensor. I'll see if I can find her corpse." Brimeia just sighs, still confused. "Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" "At least...that's what she said in a letter she wrote. Try to keep the talking to a minimum when we see her." "Maybe we should burn yours... wherever Gunnloda put it," Seirixori mutters. "It's buried.” She tells her. “Poni, be nice, please." “We are attempting to find this person who my guess, runs this part of town." Ravaphine tells Brimeia. "Oh, I guess that makes sense, but what for? Some letter?" "I'm not quite sure. Somebody had a message to give her from Her Majesty The Queen, and another day a person had a shipment for her, so the stars are pointing in the direction that we should find this person." “So fancy,” Urrak mumbles as she takes the ring and lifts it to Poni’s sensor, activating the portal. Brimeia snorts. "Very fancy." It's fuzzy and out of focus, though, not the clear images they’re used to seeing. As they watch, the vision of a pale-skinned, blonde half-elf keeps coming in and out of focus. Her thick braid is frayed, bits of hair coming loose around bare shoulders as she's clad only in her underclothes. She has an iron collar around her neck with a chain connected to manacles and an iron belt. There are glimpses of others wearing little clothing and the same chains, but it’s difficult to make out much through the interference. Finally, the portal fizzles in and out until it blinks shut. Ravaphine blinks, "What...is going on?" "Was... that her?” Brimeia asks, “Didn't look too good." Urrak nods, "She's someone's prisoner, that's for certain." "Poni, does the name Master Enchanter Qarius ring any bells? And do you think he was malicious in any form?" "Qarius is the master of the wizard's college I attended. He's a dick." "It seems he was the last person Lady Macbeth was trying to contact before she left town." "That was her, though. There's some sort of anti-magic or anti-scrying field where she is." "Is there a way to get a stronger connection with the portal?" "I don't think so. I might be able to open it long enough for you to put me through, but... is it worth it?" Seirixori snorts, “Only because you don't want to." "Guess we gotta do this quickly then." Urrak says. "We have nothing else to lose, only gain." Brimeia grins, "I'm always happy to help a lady out." "Ugh. Fine. Get ready. But if we all die, I'm blaming you." Poni grumbles. "None of this would be happening if you hadn't magically exploded everything, so you don't get to complain." Brimeia tells him. "Alright Urrak, lead the way," Ravaphine places her hands on Urrak and Brimeia’s shoulders while Gunnloda takes hold of Seirixori and Brimeia. Urrak nods once everyone is ready and pushes the button on Poni once more, quickly stepping in with the rest of the group. The world shifts from Poni’s basement to a cave. Some shaking their heads as a magical force is felt amongst the few of them, but nothing seems to happen, so they dismiss it. As they glance about, there’s a handful circular tables surrounded by chairs like it’s a place for many people to eat at once, as well as food prep and serving apparatus in the deeper end. More importantly, though, there are several Drow, black-skinned elves with whitish hair, looking up at them from what had been a card game… and they’re reaching for their crossbows. The group also notices two hulking beast looking creatures in the back of the room at a brazier, cooking and one of them runs for the door. Urrak runs towards the Drow's table and slashes with the Greataxe, though the weapon feels unstable in her usually capable hands. Her greataxe comes down with a great thunk into the drow's armor, nearly taking his arm off with it. The Drow to the west pulls up his crossbow and fires at the angry orc that just invaded their game. It pierces her armor, making a small wound and Urrak shakes her head as the the drow in front of her ducks and moves away. The other one next to her drops his crossbow and draws his shortsword instead. Gunnloda is very unsure if she wants to just start attacking things, so she casts a small blessing on Urrak, Brimeia, and Seirixori. Brimeia roars, rage flowing through her and swings at the closest thing to her, but in her haste she misses terribly. Brimeia rages and runs straight for the closest enemy, swinging her greataxe. Seirixori, feeling a little unnerved, moves to the creature closest to Urrak and tries to whack it in the face, her staff barely connects. The final drow moves so he can shoot with his crossbow, Brimeia turns and with her failing hit form before on her mind, takes careful aim and slices right through his neck. His head bounces as it falls to the ground. Ravaphine makes her move and gets close to a table to cast her firebolt at the closest drow in front of her, his neck barely sizzling from the fire, and then proceeds to hide behind the table. The other hulking beast, a quaggoth, that hadn’t taken off for the door sees the fighting tries to come to Nadal’s aid, just as his head reaches his feet. Ted, the quaggoth Seirixori whacked in the face, takes a swing at her and she manages to dodge, his swing going wide, but she isn’t quick enough for his next attack. His claw slashing right across her arm and she sucks in a breath at the pain. Urrak spins on her heel and slashes at the drow to her left, however her arm twitches and she misses. "Blast!" Balok, the drow Ravaphine barely singed, steps away and fires back with his crossbow at her. He manages to hit her in the shoulder. As the battle continues, the sound of an alarm finally rings out, the quaggoth from early finally reaching it. The other drow near Urrak, Jevan, tries to make the best of his terrible situation, and swings at Urrak but she manages to step out of the way. Gunnloda watches as Seirixori moves away from her and she moves in that direction as well, barely managing to smack Ted with her warhammer. Fred sees that Bemeril ran out to warn the others, so he'll try to help Jevan by getting Urrak's attention. He jumps up on the table and slashes at her, but misses. Brimeia turns and swings her axe and it bites into the quaggoth's flesh, but he barely seems upset by it. Annoyed at the thing next to her, Seirixori's whispers as she puts a little magic into her staff, watching as it glows and tries to smack Ted with it again, but he manages to duck just in time. Ravaphine tries to back away, firing a few magic missiles at Balok, missing him falling to the ground as Fred’s sword comes down and slashes her side. Ted, while annoyed at Seirixori, is more afraid about the dwarf in armor, and takes two swipes at her. However his size works against him and she easily ducks out of the way from both. Urrak vaults over the table to her left, Jevan swinging at her as she goes, but she manages to just land out of his reach and throws her javelin of lightning at him and Fred. The javelin transform into a lightning bolt that passes through Jevan, then turns back into a javelin as it soars past Fred. Jevan goes down, but the javelin misses Fred and sails into the wall behind, bouncing off. Bob, one of the elevator operators right outside the room comes rushing in. Gunnloda turns and heals Ravaphine, the burn in her side lessening. Fred swings at Brimeia, one of them she bats away, but the other he knicks her arm, but she nearly laughs at how little it hurt. Growing irritated, Seirixori smacks Ted again with her glowy staff, nearly celebrating as it smacks him in his snarling face again. Ravaphine moves to cast a bolt of fire at Bemeril, but it sails wide. Brimeia, finally realizing they should probably try and turn off the alarm, races towards the door, dodging past both Fred and Bob. However, once she makes it she sees more enemies running in their direction, clearly too late. Seirixori takes the time to smack Ted in the face again, his irritation growing by the second. Ravaphine ducks out of the way and makes her way towards Brimeia, but she disappears as she gets closer. From outside, Kalannar, a much better equipped drow positions himself, takes aim, and fires at Brimeia, but his bolt sails just past her head. Rob runs at her and swings, but she manages to bat his claws away. Ted, who is really annoyed with the damn tiefling still bonking him on the nose, takes a swing with his claws and slashes Seirixori across her face, leaving nice bloody lines in their wake. Shoor and Guldor, two drow with special equipment, also outside, raise their crossbows and fire at Brimeia, both slamming into her, but she shakes off their attempts to poison her. A priestess comes around the corner from one of the towers. She stands back behind the special drow warriors and observes. Urrak turns to her right and takes a swing at Ted with her greatsword, but the twitching in her arm makes itself known again and it swings wide of the hulking quaggoth. A female drow, wearing clothes that mark her as some sort of special person, comes around the corner a magic web falling over Gunnloda, Seirixori, and Urrak. Urrak manages to dodge out of the way, but both Gunnloda and Seirixori find themselves stuck. Gunnloda manages to reach over and the cuts on Seirixori’s face start closing. Bob attempts to to block Brimeia's path slashing his claws at her, drawing some blood. Bemeril tries to assist him but his shot goes wider than he expected and sinks into Bob. Brimeia tries to swing back but misses as she tries to get out of the way of the sailing crossbolts. Fred runs up to URrak and slashes at her with his claws, she tries to back away but he strikes true and he manages to re-open the rather nice hole she’d gotten from the spear the day before. "Uh, maybe... maybe we should quit while we are not at all ahead," Seirixori says, "not a fan of getting knocked out." She stares in confusion as she watches her arms take her staff and swing at Ted, but he manages to catch it and growls at her. He drops Seirixori’s staff and swipes at her but misses as he tries to avoid swiping at the webbing holding her in place. Kalannar is fires at Brimeia again, this time catching her off guard and she can feel the poison bolt coarse through her blood. Rob tries to push Brimeia away but she holds her ground. Shoor pulls out his wand and fires it at Brimeia, a glob of viscous material launches from the tip and hits her. It expands and encases her in the goo, then instantly dries, restraining her. Guldor squeezes past Bob and fires a bolt at Urrak, but is unsteady on his feet and his shot goes wide. Asha casts Sacred Flame at Seirixori, but she shakes it off, the magic doing nothing. Urrak, thoroughly pissed, chugs a potion of healing and takes a swing at Fred with her Greataxe, and it bites solidly into the mass of hunched back above the quaggoth’s head. Ilvara, however, is not amused. She casts Mass Cure Wounds. Nadal, Balok, and Fred all struggle back to their feet. She speaks in Elven, "You cannot win this fight. Surrender." Urrak just stares at her, not understanding, "What's she blabberin' about???" Bob will leave the gooped Brimeia and move towards the others. Bemeril steps inside and fires at Seirixori. The bolt slams into her and she falls, the poison coursing through her and overwhelming her, causing her to fall unconscious. Gunnloda is out of cure spells but is very sad that Seirixori is fallen, so she's going to not move because she's restrained. She's instead going to whack Ted in the face with her warhammer, sturdy fella though. Phil moves closer. Fred slashes at Urrak. Brimeia, unfortunately, cannot do anything because she's encased in solid goo. Seirixori is unconscious. Kalannar will approach and fire at Gunnloda, but his shot misses. Bill turns to leave. Rob stands guard at Brimeia. Shoor will come inside and fire his wand at Gunnloda, but the goo hits a pile of food instead. Ted is going to attack her for bopping him. And miss because Gunnloda is a fucking tank. Guldor fires at Urrak and she falls to the ground. Everyone converges on Gunnloda, weapons drawn, and seeing Urrak and Seirixori unconscious in the webs and Brimeia in the goo stuff, she lowers her hammer and shield, hoping that since they aren't attacking, hopefully they won't simply slaughter everyone. Brimeia watches, unhappily as Bill and Jason walk in, arms full of chains and iron implements. Back - Next